COMEBACK VICTORY FOR RU AT LONGWOOD

BOX SCORE FARMVILLE, Va. - Radford spotted Longwood a four-run lead in the first inning and then pounded out 14 hits en route to a 10-6 come-from-behind victory at Bolding Stadium. Jeff Maxwell lasted 3.2 innings out of the bullpen to earn the save, and Michael Boyle (5-2) battled for 5.0 innings to earn his fifth victory of the season.

Boyle gave up a hard luck four runs in the first. After a leadoff strikeout to Colton Konvicka, the lefty starter struck out Matt Dickason, but a wild pitch on the swinging strike three allowed Dickason to reach. The Lancers took advantage of the break. Alex Owens hit a sac fly, and Justin Lacy connected on a three-run homer to give the hosts a 4-0 lead.

"I thought Boyle didn't deserve to give up those runs in the first," Radford head coach Joe Raccuia said. "We settled down and played defense behind him though and allowed us a chance to come back."

Radford's offense took advantage of a Lancer miscue in the second to cut the lead in half. Ryan Burgess led off the inning with a ground ball to short, but C.J. Roth's throw was high at first base. Hunter Higgerson followed with a base on balls. Blake Sipe singled home Burgess, and Patrick Marshall's RBI sac fly sliced the Lancer lead to 4-2.

Boyle settled in and retired seven straight Longwood batters before facing Lacy again to lead off the fourth. With his second home run of the day, Lacy extended the LU lead to 5-2. Boyle managed to work his way through the fifth without any further damage to set up a comeback opportunity for his teammates.

And the Highlanders responded.

Zach Woolcock led off the sixth with a double to center field. Burgess singled to put runners on the corners, and Higgerson doubled them both home to cut the lead to 5-4. Sipe bunted Higgerson to third, and a throwing error by the Lancers' starter Brandon Vick plated Higgerson to tie the game at five.

Sipe, who reached on the error and made it all the way to second, advanced to third on a Marshall groundout. Chris Coia then beat out a squeeze bunt for a single that scored Sipe to give the Highlanders a lead they would not relinquish, 6-5.

"We battled for every at bat today," Raccuia said. "We moved guys on the base paths and executed our offense. It was great to see Higgerson, Sipe, and Coia contribute."

Lacy again led off an inning in the sixth, but this time faced James Woods out of the bullpen to replace Boyle. Woods struck out Lacy in his only batter faced. Maxwell came in at that point and lasted until the final out was recorded.

"Maxwell is the story of the series so far," Raccuia said. "We owe him a great deal of thanks for saving our bullpen through the first two games."

Higgerson and Sipe each notched RBI singles in the seventh to stretch the RU lead to 8-5. Josh Reavis singled home a run in the eighth, and Coia knocked in Higgerson, who led off the ninth with another double, to complete the scoring for the Highlanders.

"I was more impressed that after the four-run sixth to take the lead, we added four more runs and kept the pressure on them," Raccuia said.

Longwood added a run in the ninth to make it interesting, but Maxwell earned his second save in as many days when he got Owens to pop out to end the game.

Higgerson and Sipe each ended the game with three hits. Higgerson scored four runs on the day and drove in three. Sipe had a pair of RBI as did Coia. Reavis and Woolcock also finished with multiple hits collecting two apiece.

With the win, the Highlanders (26-20, 11-6) have taken the first two games of the series and will attempt to complete the sweep on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Longwood falls to 21-23 and 10-10.

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